I just wondered if anyone is or has taught for this outfit? It is Western (Canadian) based in its methodology, etc. and sounds good. If you'd rather not leave your comments on here, you can e-mail me at <kc107891@yahoo.com> I have a phone interview with them scheduled, so any insight is appreciated. Thanks.

I worked at a Maple Bear for a year. I don't have enough teaching experience to comment on methodology, but it is a good teaching environment. Some branches have more resources than others, and the one in Suwon is lacking in resources, which is a significant problem. Most of the jobs involve teaching kindergarten.

I would add that, having worked with Demonicat, he is not a representative or impartial source of information about Maple Bear. I will send you an email.

I taught at the original Maple Bear school in downtown Seoul 3 years ago. I think this is one of the better run Maple Bears. For me, the curriculum and resources were highly inadequate and borderline horrible. I taught a KG 6 class and was never able to use the resources (specifically learning centres, lesson plans) provided as my students were all too advanced for the material. The good thing is that there will be other teachers who are teaching the same age so you can work together with someone to develop your own resources and activities. The work environment was pretty good and I never had to worry about pay and shady practices in general.

I have to agree with the poster that states that you will be teaching kindy all day. Unless you have a lot of energy, it can be pretty draining.

I was recently interviewed by a rep from Maple Bear and I am considering taking the position. Aside from the lack of resources and having to teach a kindy-class, does anyone have any other complaints about the school? What is the length of each class? I heard that it can run as long a 3 hours. I'd appreciate any feedback.

The elementary curriculum is not very good either. It is too difficult for the kids. The kids must be at a North American elementary level to understand and do well in the program. You might be spending much of your time finding your own things when doing this class. The elementary class can also run 3 hours as well depending on your school. I believe it is suppose to be 2 hours but the school I was at had it at 3 hours which was way too much for the kids.

Thanks for the heads up. Three hour classes? Kids have very short attention spans, that is way too long for a class. It really surprised me to hear that there is a shortage of teaching resources/ materials. The rep from the school made it seem that their programs and facilities were amazing.

Well, I think it depends on the school. Kindergarten classes are always 3 hour classes usually everyday in the morning and every mon, wed and fri. for afternoon classes. Also, you may teach elementary classes which can be either 3 hours or 1.5 hours depending on school and level.

Yes, you only have the curriculum to work with and there is some supplemental material but alot of it was no good. The kindergarten program is ok but the elementary was too difficult or not good enough for the kids.

I am considering a position at the new Bucheon branch of Maple Bear. Can anyone send me any information other that has already been posted? I know a few people would rather email their experiences. If anyone can assist, please email me at blushield07@gmail.com.

Just interviewed with a rep for Maple Bear today. Anyone currently teaching at any of the Seoul locations that can tell me a little about the school? The rep made it sound fantastic (obviously), but the old discussions on here would lead me to believe otherwise. I hear they have 3 hour classes. Is this true for all branches? I currently teach 50 min, and even that's exhausting. I asked the rep about this and she curtailed the question and wouldn't give me a straight answer. I'm only considering Seoul locations, so if anyone teaching at one in seoul can give me any advice, that'd be great.

One of my friends just left a position at the Bucheon Maple Bear to go to graduate school in Germany. She loved teaching kindergarten and would like to open her own private kindergarten in Germany someday. She had good things to say when she wasn't stressed about an open class. Those are a nightmare at most schools. There's always one student who is a little genius and a show-off, so all the other student's mothers see this and say stupid things out of jealousy.

Another friend of mine works at the Yongin branch and she seems to be having a good year also. Both Yongin and Bucheon are rather distant suburbs of Seoul, but transportation isn't difficult. If I had to choose, I would pick Bucheon. I say my friend's apartment there and it was a really nice loft-style officetel.